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1969 Map of Panoche

Name: 1969 Topographic Map of Panoche
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1972
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1972

About this map

Panoche Valley serves as a central corridor in this late 1960s topographic study, where agricultural and industrial infrastructure meets the desert hills of San Benito County. The settlement of Panoche is anchored by the Panoche School, with Panoche Road and Yturiarte Road providing local access across the valley floor. The map records a landscape transitioning into resource extraction, most notably evidenced by the extensive Vallecitos Oil Field and various pipelines traversing the terrain.

To the south and east, the elevation rises sharply into the Griswold Hills and Panoche Hills, marked by steep drainages like Griswold Canyon and the curiously named Babies Gulch. Water management and transportation are primary themes, with Panoche Creek and New Idria Road carving paths through the high country. Surveyed fence lines and scattered water tanks reveal the extent of cattle ranching across these arid ridges.